Organize Messy Container Lids In Cabinets With A Creative Storage Hack

Plastic food storage boxes are essential to keep around but undeniably annoying to organize. They come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, and as a result, they will often fill up even your largest kitchen cabinets — but only if you let them. To reduce the amount of space your containers take up, you'll want to start by finding a clever solution for keeping their lids neatly stacked and sorted. One such remedy is to use bookends to hold them together in your cupboard. 

Decorative metal bookends will hold all of your container lids upright, as though they were in a filing cabinet, so they can be easier to look through. No more wasting time digging around your cabinet shelves for that one hard-to-find cover you need for packing up your lunch or your leftovers. With this trick, you're far more likely to find what you're looking for right away.

Bookends are functional decorative items that you'll most often see on shelves in the living room or home office. They don't just stop your favorite books from falling over, though. They're smart space savers that can give any interior a little boost of personality. To use them in your kitchen to tidy up your container lids, start by cleaning out the cabinet space you want to keep them in. Get rid of the lids that don't have a matching container anymore, and then sort the remaining lids by size before slotting them between your bookends. This is a solid start toward organizing your kitchen cabinets once and for all.

Bookends are generally inexpensive, but before you go and order the cheapest pair of them you can find online, there are a few things you should consider. The first is the height of the cabinet shelf where you're going to keep your lids. The shorter the bookends, the more likely they are to fit in your shelf space. Another consideration is the width of the bookends. The thicker they are, the less likely they are to actually help you save space. However, while this hack can help you organize your kitchen shelves, keep in mind that new bookends cost upwards of $10, and a lid organizer is around $15 and is more convenient. For this to be useful, either use bookends you already own or get the Read & Inspire Metal Bookends from Dollar Tree, which cost $1.25.

Finally, don't forget to think about the weight of the bookend — in this case, the heavier the bottom is, the better. Bookends are usually held in place partially by the weight of the books themselves, but your container lids just won't have that same stabilizing bulk. The heavier the base of the bookend, the less likely it is to tip over whenever you thumb through your collection of lids. If you need some extra help to keep everything from sliding around, install a grippy shelf liner or attach non-slip pads to the bottom of the bookends. If you ordered your new bookends in a set and end up with extras after trying out this organizational trick, you might end up discovering that there are plenty of other genius ways you can use bookends that don't even involve books.